Awards and Recognition
Drake University, Deanโs List (all semesters)
Drake University, Order of the Coif
Drake University, Dwight D. Opperman Scholarship
ALI Excellence for the Future Award โ Family Law
CALI Excellence for the Future Award โ Wills and Trusts
CALI Excellence for the Future Award โ Copyright Law
Drake Law Review, Jeff Gilbert Memorial Writing Award recipient
Drake Law Review, Junior Staff
Drake University, 2017 First Year Oral Argument (FYOA) โ Finalist
Iowa State University, Omega Chi Epsilon
Iowa State University, Golden Key National Honorary Society
Iowa State University, Alpha Lambda Delta
Iowa State University, Phi Eta Sigma
Yesterday, Global Tetrahedron, the corporation that owns the satirical news website The Onion, was the winning bidder for Alex Jonesโ Infowars at a Chapter 7 bankruptcy auction. Jones and Infowars owner Free Speech Systems both filed for bankruptcy in 2022 after eight families impacted by the Sandy Hook shooting won a $1.4 billion defamation award [โฆ]
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The Gregory Hotel, Inc. in New Jersey โ the last holdout in the Taco Tuesday trademark dispute โ has voluntarily surrendered its trademark registration. Last May, Taco Bell filed a petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to cancel a trademark for Taco Tuesday that rival chain Taco Johnโs, and the Gregory Hotel, [โฆ]
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Taco Johnโs has surrendered its Taco Tuesday trademark. As we reported in May, Taco Bell filed a petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to cancel a trademark for Taco Tuesday that rival chain Taco Johnโs had held since 1989. Along with the petition, Taco Bell launched a nationwide public relations campaign for [โฆ]
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Taco Bell recently launched an ad campaign featuring LeBron James and the censored phrase Taco T***day. In a commercial, Lebron repeatedly attempts to say the phrase โTaco Tuesday,โ but the โTuesdayโ is consistently bleeped out. He then helpfully explains that thereโs a trademark on Taco Tuesday and therefore it cannot be used in a commercial, [โฆ]
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On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, a jury found that Gilead did not infringe on three patents held by the federal government, and furthermore, that the patents at issue are invalid. The government was seeking more than $1 billion in damages related to the sale of Truvada and Descovy for an HIV prevention regimen call pre-exposure [โฆ]
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On January 25, 2023, a trial between rapper T.I. and doll maker MGA Entertainment Inc. ended in a mistrial after the judge determined that improper testimony regarding cultural appropriation was โincurably prejudicialโ to the jury. In December 2020, MGA Entertainment sued Clifford T.I. Harris, his wife Temeka โTinyโ Harris, and OMG Girlz seeking a Declaratory [โฆ]
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Last Friday, the Supreme Court accepted Amgenโs request to review Section 112 of the Patent Act and consider how much a patent specification must disclose to meet enablement requirements. Specifically, the Court will review whether a patent must disclose enough information for the skilled artisan to โreach the full scopeโ of the claims, or whether [โฆ]
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On Friday Moderna issued a news release stating that the company is filing complaints in both the United States and Germany alleging that Pfizer and BioNTechโs COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnatyยฎ) infringes three of Modernaโs patents. The patents at issue are US Patent Nos 10,898574, 10,702,600, and 10,933,127. The patents cover Modernaโs mRNA technology that Moderna say [โฆ]
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Today, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a decision holding that Cisco willfully infringed several patents owned by Centripetal Networks, Inc. The District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia had awarded enhanced damages and royalties exceeding $2.75 billion to Centripetal. The Federal Circuit held that the district court judge was disqualified [โฆ]
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Earlier this month, the World Intellectual Property Organization (โWIPOโ) announced that China has joined WIPOโs Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs effective May 5, 2022. An industrial design is a form of intellectual property that protects the ornamental or visual features of an article not related to its functionality. In general, to [โฆ]
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On December 18, 2021, new regulations implementing the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (โthe TMAโ) will officially go into effect allowing individuals, businesses, and the USPTO to clear unused registered trademarks from the federal trademark register. New ex parte expungement and reexamination proceedings are said to provide a faster, more efficient, and less expensive alternative [โฆ]
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As directed by the Music Modernization Act (โMMAโ), on Thursday, July 8, 2021, the US Copyright Office (the โOfficeโ) released a public report to recommend best practices for the Mechanical Licensing Collective (โMLCโ) to effectively match copyright owners with unclaimed royalties for musical works, and ultimately reduce the incidence of unclaimed royalties. Unclaimed royalties are [โฆ]
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Dolce Vita Footware, Inc. sought registration of the mark CLEAR for various bags, purses, wallets, and card cases โ excluding transparent goods. The Examiner refused registration on the grounds that it is deceptively misdescriptive and on April 29, 2021 the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the โTTABโ) affirmed. In its original registration, Dolce Vita identified [โฆ]
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On February 22, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the Patent Trial and Appeal Boardโs decision that SynQorโs US Patent No. 7,072,190 was unpatentable. SynQorโs โ190 patent relates to technology that converts DC current from one voltage to another for use in large computer systems and data communication equipment. [โฆ]
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On December 4, 2020, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (โFederal Circuitโ) denied petitions by Naked TM, LLC for a panel rehearing and a rehearing en banc of the decision in Australian Therapeutics Supplies Pty. Ltd. v. Naked TM, LLC, 965 F.3D 1370 (Fed. Cir. 2020). The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board [โฆ]
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On September 28, 2020, in Biogen Ma Inc. v. EMD Serono, Inc, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (โFederal Circuitโ) reversed a district courtโs grant of judgment as a matter of law of no anticipation, reinstating a jury verdict. The claims at issue in Biogenโs patent cover the multiple sclerosis treatment Avonex [โฆ]
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On July 31, 2020, in the precedential opinion Alacritech, Inc. v. Intel Corp., the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (hereinafter the โFederal Circuitโ) reinstated three claims of Alacritechโs patent, holding that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (hereinafter the โBoardโ) did not adequately support its finding that the asserted prior art [โฆ]
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On June 19, 2020 The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (hereinafter the โFederal Circuitโ) affirmed a district courtโs ruling that Dropboxโs three patents claim abstract ideas and further provide no inventive concept transforming the abstract idea into patentable subject matter. Dropbox and their wholly owned subsidiary, Orcinus Holdings, (hereinafter referred to [โฆ]
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On April 24, 2020, The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (โCAFCโ) held that claims concerning a method for fishing, specifically that of selecting a fishing hook based on observed water conditions, are directed to an abstract idea. According to 35 U.S.C. ยง 101, โ[w]homever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, [โฆ]
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Last year, this blog brought news of the impending Brexit vote and the supposed impact of Brexit on intellectual property laws in the UK. Brexit was thought to have largely no effect on patent law because European and UK patents are governed by the European Patent Convention (EPC) which is a non-EU agreement. Further, the European Patent [โฆ]
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On December 18, 2019, in Fox Factory, Inc. v. SRAM, LLC, the Federal Circuit (the โCourtโ) vacated and remanded the Patent Appeal Boardโs (the โBoardโ) obviousness determination. Fox challenged SRAMโs patent for bicycle chain rings in an inter partes review. The Court found that the Board applied the wrong standard for determining whether or not challenged [โฆ]
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On December 12, the United Kingdom (UK) will hold a general election, in which Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes to secure a clear majority so as not to lose the prospect of Brexit after failing to leave the European Union (EU) by the end of October as previously promised. Currently, Johnson enjoys a healthy lead [โฆ]
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